Week 11 in Catholic Media, 2014

March 19th, 2014, Promulgated by Diane Harris

The following highlights and links are all from LifeSiteNews, an organization truly worthy of our financial support:www.LifeSiteNews.com and here is the link for contributions: http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3b519162c561a81f1ee4736a3&id=f317c46648&e=1ad6c33a4e At this point in their fundraising campaign they have raised only $24,000 of the needed $150,000. It would be a shame to lose such accurate and timely reporting, when there is virtually no source of current events reporting (let alone Catholic!) that does anything near the breadth and depth of what LfeSiteNews does, and all minus the fluff. Just the prompt FACTS. And they have faced enormous risks in the courtroom, corporately and personally, to continue such daily reporting. Please think about it.

And the world became still a little bit more dangerous for babes in the womb last week:

ROME, March 10, 2014: “The International Planned Parenthood Federation has scored a major victory against conscientious objection laws in Italy at the Council of Europe. The council’s European Committee of Social Rights voted … to uphold IPPF’s complaint against Italy that too many doctors are allowed to refuse to participate in abortion.”

LONDON, March 10, 2014:– “Amnesty International, an organization founded to defend those imprisoned for political crimes and to fight human rights abuses, launched a new campaign last week dedicated to promoting unrestricted access to abortion. The global campaign … was launched … in response to what the increasingly pro-abortion and homosexualist lobby group says is the failure of governments around the world to defend sexual and reproductive rights.”

NEW YORK CITY, March 13, 2014:– “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton believes it is a ‘bedrock truth’ that abortion restrictions hamper human progress, and any efforts to improve women’s rights must begin with increased access to contraception and abortion. Addressing the United Nations for International Women’s Day, Clinton told her audience, ‘There is one lesson from the past, in particular, that we cannot afford to ignore: You cannot make progress on gender equality or broader human development, without safeguarding women’s reproductive health and rights. That is a bedrock truth.’ … Clinton said that even the United States, which has some of the most lenient abortion laws of any developed Western nation, falls short when it comes to giving women free access to abortion-on-demand. ‘This remains the great unfinished business of the 21st century,’ Clinton said. ‘No country in the world, including my own, has achieved full participation.'”

ABUJA, Nigeria, March 14, 2014: – “European Parliament voted to recommend heavy economic sanctions, the denial of travel visas, the withdrawing of foreign aid, as well as force the isolation from the international community of African nations that refuse to heel to the EU’s homosexual agenda. During the debate at the European Parliament, French socialists … laid blame for the pro-family laws in Nigeria and Uganda on ‘evangelists from the United States.’ Addressing the UN delegation in Nigeria, the attorney general of the Nigerian federal government, Mohammed Adoke, emphasized that Nigeria’s laws ‘do not criminalize individual sexual orientation,’ but explained that the focus of the law is ‘the discouragement of same-sex marriage which is a reflection of the overwhelming beliefs and cultural values of the Nigerian people.'”

In a 2013 national opinion poll, 92 percent of Nigerians polled rejected same-sex “marriage.” The Nigerian Catholic bishops and the Muslim community in Nigeria also publicly supported the law as a reflection of their cultural beliefs and as an integral part of the defense of Nigeria’s moral health. The bill, called the “Same-sex Marriage Prohibition Act” was signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan in January. Since then, the EU, a vast array of international organizations and the United Nations have attempted to force the international community to take drastic measures in order to impose the homosexual agenda upon Nigeria and other African nations that have resisted the push to normalize homosexual conduct. The Nigerian law prohibits homosexual marriages or unions, adoption by homosexuals, and the dissemination of homosexual propaganda.

Mr. Mohammed emphasized that far from being something that Nigerians desire, the promotion and normalization of homosexuality could ‘bring down any government should the government toy with the opinion of the vast majority of the people.’ The UN High Commissioner stated that the Nigerian law ‘may deter LGBT persons from taking up HIV education, prevention treatment and care services as well as civil society and religious groups from implementing such services.’ Yet [the article states] scientific findings show that ‘no other group of comparable size in society experiences such intense and widespread pathology’ as homosexuals.”

“On a day when the European Parliament still could not come to any consensus on the imposition of any real sanctions on Russia for the geopolitical crisis in Crimea, it appeared clear that the European Union would continue to attempt to force African nations to adopt its homosexual agenda with every tool at its disposal, including harsh economic sanctions.”

Catholics Causing Scandal

TORONTO, March 11, 2014 – “The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association took another step in its promotion of the homosexual agenda Monday as it announced it would march in Toronto’s WorldPride parade on June 29. The association, which represents the province’s 45,000 teachers and plays a large role in their professional and spiritual formation, passed a motion this weekend to organize a delegation for the homosexual activist event.”

OTTAWA, March 11, 2014 – “As the Ottawa Catholic School Board defends their partnership with Free the Children and refuses to answer parents’ questions about whether the secular charity distributes contraceptives in the developing world, LifeSiteNews obtained a letter Free the Children sent to the school board in October admitting one of its clinics does in fact ‘stock and provide contraceptives to patients.’ Critics are calling it a ‘cover up’ and a “major Catholic scandal,’ and accuse the school board of knowingly ‘cooperating with evil.'”

Access to School Information

March 12, 2014 (STOPP) – LifeSiteNews reported that it hears “almost weekly from anxious parents who want to know whether Planned Parenthood is in their children’s school. Some have already started making phone calls and sending letters to the school district … Others are at a loss where to start. Here is their resource to help you find quick answers about the prevalence, source, and format of sex education in your geographical area.

Courageous Catholic Hierarchy

Bishop Philip Egan

PORTSMOUTH, England, March 13, 2014 – “When people are not in communion with the Catholic Church on such a central thing as the value of life of the unborn child and also in terms of the teachings of the church on marriage and family life –they are voting in favor of same-sex marriage – then they shouldn’t be receiving Holy Communion,” said Portsmouth Bishop Philip Egan in a wide-ranging on-camera interview…. Bishop Egan explained that rather than a punitive measure, the denial of Holy Communion is ‘always an act of mercy.’ It is done, he said, ‘with the hope and prayer that that person can be wooed back into full communion with the Church …. Nobody is forced to be Catholic. We’re called by Christ and He’s chosen us, it’s a free choice. We live under the word of God. It’s not my truth, its God’s truth,’ he said. … One would hope that in that case it would encourage someone to come back to seek communion with the Lord with the truth and say I’m sorry I got lost.””

Bishop Robert Vasa

SANTA ROSA, CA, March 13, 2014 – “Courage,” an official apostolate of the Roman Catholic Church, often faces criticism from Catholics and non-Catholics who believe it is a harmful part of the Church’s doctrine on marriage. In Santa Rosa, California, however, Bishop Robert Vasa is ignoring these criticisms in their entirety. Last week, Vasa sponsored a program that included a presentation by former homosexual porn actor Joseph Sciambra to the local arm of Courage. Sciambra, who has a book on his experiences and how they led him to embrace the Church, believes that homosexual relationships are devastatingly harmful to the bodies and souls of men who engage in sex with other men.

Critics of Bishop Vasa and Sciambra have abounded. However, the bishop has been a source of relief to serious Catholics. While critics say that having an abstinent man with same-sex attractions present to Courage harms acceptance of homosexuals in the Church, orthodox Catholics find the push against the permissive American culture a welcome change. Bishop Vasa’s prioritization of Church teachings over public opinion is nothing new. For years, he has emphasized Church teachings about sexual morality and life, and has long been a leader among orthodox Catholics for his adherence to Church doctrine.

Bishop Dorick Wright

BELIZE CITY, March 14, 2014 – “Belize’s Roman Catholic Bishop Dorick Wright issued a directive to the country’s Catholic schools stating that ‘organizations whose activities and positions are actively opposed to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church, and which endanger the souls of the People of God, cannot be welcomed under any circumstances in our schools.’ The bishop’s letter specifically named the Belize Family Life Association (BFLA), the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), the National AIDS Commission and the Red Cross program called ‘Together We Can,’ according to Amandala News. Bishop Wright charged these groups with promoting ‘the First World’s errors and problems’ among ‘unsuspecting people,’ such as the notion of ‘sexual rights’ among children, as well as abortion and homosexuality, and warned that they ‘foster programs that ultimately undermine our Catholic values.’”

“These organizations often present themselves as champions of some apparent good, whether it be to educate on sexuality and reproductive rights, AIDS, or to administer certain medical treatments or shots to our children, but despite some apparent good, you must, nevertheless, respectfully decline any and all invitation or association with any such organizations. I make this directive to all local managers of Catholic Schools, assistant local managers, all administrators, principals and teachers,” Bishop Wright said.

“Stressing that Planned Parenthood is an international billion-dollar business that profits from the killing of babies through abortion, Bishop Wright said, ‘BFLA, the operational arm in Belize of International Planned Parenthood, is an instrument of the most serious crimes against life and our Christian morality.’ He also warned school officials that, ‘BFLA’s entreaties are sometimes made in such a way to confuse us, fooling some to believe that their work is endorsed by the Church…. Besides whatever good they might do,’ the bishop stated, ‘they nevertheless promote ‘sexual rights’ for children as young as 10 years of age, including a supposed ‘right to privacy’ from even their own parents and guardians, and in particular, their right to abortion without parental notification…. This agenda of sodomy, abortion, and sexual gender redefinition is seeking to radically change Belize’s Christian character. I call on all of you to be vigilant with me against this threat to Belize’s moral foundations and family values.’”